Falling Into Flames
by jaded dragon1070
Summary: A Heroes of Olympus fanfic about Leo. This is the story of how he became the not-so-seventh wheel. ;) Hope you enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Leo

Leo's day was not starting very well.

Coach Hedge had waked him up from the nap he'd been taking. He'd been operating the Argo II for ten hours straight and needed some sleep before he dozed off and crashed the ship. Finally, the coach took over and told him to go to bed. Leo followed the orders gladly, falling asleep like Morpheus himself had cast a spell.

Then the spell ended when Coach Hedge stormed into his cabin, yelling about how Festus was clicking and groaning again. Leo groaned himself. If Festus was making noises this frequently, there had to be something seriously wrong.

Leo forced himself to get out of bed, running a hand through his dark curly hair. Flames sprouted on his fingers from agitation. After patting them out, he followed Hedge to the helm, where Festus was looking out at the night sky. When Leo got close enough, the metal dragon masthead clicked and whirred in Morse code, describing what was wrong and what they needed to fix.

After Festus was done explaining the situation, Leo cursed. No one but him would be able to get these supplies. He'd have to go down to a machine shop himself. Everyone else would have to stay on the ship to protect it.

"I've gotta go down to a town machine shop to get the stuff to fix the Argo II," Leo told Hedge. "And I'll have to go alone. We'll need everyone else to stay on board and protect it. The defenses are down, so we'll need every weapon to make up for it while I'm gone."

"I don't like this, Valdez," Coach growled. "But I guess you have to. Get some rest. You'll leave to get stuff in the morning."

"Let me navigate to the nearest town," Leo said.

Leo took the controls and maneuvered the Argo II to a small town in South Carolina called Little Ridge. He made sure the ship was docked before going back below deck to his cabin to catch up on the sleep Coach Hedge had interrupted.

Marci

Marcela wasn't sure what was wrong with her motorcycle. It had started up this morning. It had even made it all the way into town from her house out in the woods. But now when she tried to start it to go back home, it wouldn't work.

She fiddled with the ignition, thinking it was just the way she tried to start it. When it still wouldn't work, she knelt on the ground to check out the gas line and the engine.

Being an inventor, she knew some stuff about mechanics. Seriously, you can't be an inventor without knowing the ins and outs of everyday objects. Like motorcycles, and cars, and robots, and…well, everything, really. Marcela took stuff apart all the time just to see how it worked, then she'd either put it back together, the way it was or better.

She'd come to town to get some copper wire and batteries for a little robot she was working on. The supplies were in her messenger bag, which was slung over her shoulder. She also bought some more gears, which she tended to run out of a lot.

Finally giving up, Marcela stood, kicked the curb where her bike was parked, and cursed. She yanked the keys out of the ignition and started storming back to the machine shop where she got her invention supplies. Her anger tinted her vision red and made her almost blind.

So when she ran into the boy with curly dark hair, she stopped and cursed at him.

"Watch where you're going," she growled. "My day's bad enough as it is."

He grinned at her, the kind of grin that makes you wonder what's going on in this kid's head. He was taller than she was, which wasn't really saying much, because she was pretty dang short. He wore suspenders over an orange tee shirt that said something about a camp. He wore pants with some sort of padding on the knees. And to top it all off, he was covered in grease and dirt.

Marcela probably wasn't looking any better. She knew she had grease all over her too, considering her issue with her motorcycle.

"Hey," he said, "sorry 'bout that."

"Yeah."

"So your day's not goin' so well? Neither's mine. But maybe we can make each other's days better. I'm Leo." He grinned that grin again, and stuck his hand out for me to shake.

She shook it tentatively and said, "I'm Marcela."

"Marcela," he mused. "Can I call you Marci?"

"No."

"Great! Well, Marci, where's the nearest machine shop?"

Leo

When Marci ran into him, Leo almost spontaneously combusted out of shock.

She had curly brown pigtails and pine green eyes. She was wearing overalls over a brown tank top, which normally would turn Leo away from a girl, but Marci pulled it off. She wore scuffed, buckled engineer boots. Her nails were bitten to the quick and grease was smeared across her face.

She was the most beautiful thing Leo had seen in a long time.

Luckily, Leo didn't go up in flames. Instead, he did the smart thing and asked her wear the machine shop was.

"I was just going there to look for a part for my motorcycle," she said. "Just come with me."

"Wait, whoa," Leo made a time-out sign with his hands. "_You _have a _motorcycle_?"

Marci gave him a look. "Yeah, so what?"

"Nothing. I just think that's awesome."

She rolled her eyes and stopped in front of a garage and shop. "Well, here we are."

They walked inside and were greeted by the smell of metal and oil. Leo looked around the store; the walls were covered with boxes of every tool, material, and mechanical supply imaginable. It was just the place Leo loved to be.

"Hey!" Marci yelled. "Brady, I'm back! My motorcycle's busted."

At Marci's call, a burly man with a misshapen face and tangled beard stepped out. Leo gasped. It was Hephaestus.

Marci gave him a strange look. "What?"

Hephaestus, aka Brady, shook his head furiously behind Marci's back. "Oh, uh, nothing," Leo stuttered.

"Ookaay…anyhow. Brady, there's something wrong with my bike. Think you could take a look? I can't figure out what's going on."

"Marcela, I can't, I'm busy working on a project," Hephaestus said.

"Brady's always building stuff," Marci explained.

"Nothing unusual," Leo grumbled.

"Maybe your friend here could help you out?" Hephaestus said, giving Leo a look. "Let me take him to the storeroom first. He looks like he needs something other than to help you."

Marci nodded. "He asked me where the nearest machine shop was. While I'm here I'd better pick up a new screwdriver…" she drifted off, walking over to a shelf.

Hephaestus grabbed Leo's arm and pulled him into the storeroom. "What are you doing here?" he growled.

"Festus needs repairing and this was the closest town. But why are _you_ here? Didn't Zeus put Olympus on lockdown?" Leo retorted.

"The girl. She has a strong aura, I'm surprised she hasn't been attacked by monsters yet."

Leo's stomach plummeted. "Please tell me she's not my sister."

"Oh, Hades, no!"

"Thank the gods," Leo muttered. "Then why's her aura so strong?"

"She's the daughter of a god, and her powers are getting stronger. I'm not sure why she hasn't been claimed yet. She's fifteen…" Hephaestus trailed off. "Anyhow." He snapped his fingers. "Your supplies are on the Argo II. You're welcome. Now, you need to get going. A monster has sensed you and the girl."

"What about her bike?"

"You can fix it. Now go!" Hephaestus hobbled up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "And happy birthday."

Leo ran out of the storeroom, shouting behind him, "Thanks, Dad!"

Marci was standing at the counter, a puzzled look on her face. "Did you just call him…"

"No time to explain! We have to go." With that, Leo grabbed her arm and pulled her out the door and down the sidewalk to her motorcycle just as the little shop burst into flames.


	2. Chapter 2

Marci

Marci looked behind her, rolling her eyes. "Again? Seriously?"

"What do you mean, _again_?" Leo asked over the sound of the burning store as he knelt down to look at her motorcycle.

"Look," she said simply. "That _thing _keeps showing up, burning stuff to the ground. It especially likes destroying my larger inventions."

Leo looked back and cursed. A huge humanoid fireball emerged from burning store. But it wasn't a fireball; it was a giant holding flaming cannonball…things.

"That's a Lastrygonian," he moaned. "We need to hurry."

"A _what_?" Marci hissed.

"Some sort of giant." He stopped talking and there was a click. "I got it! Get on; I'm driving."

Leo swung his leg over Marci's motorcycle and moved his hand toward the ignition. Marci climbed on behind him.

"We can't go anywhere without the keys!" Leo told her impatiently.

"Oh, sorry," she said, biting her lip and handing him the keys.

He put them in the ignition and revved the engine. The motorcycle came to life under them, and Leo turned around, grinning madly.

"Which way to your house?" he asked and Marci gave him quick directions.

"How are we going to lose the Lastrygonian?" Marci gasped as a fireball whizzed past them as they sped towards her house.

"I didn't bring any weapons," Leo shouted over the motorcycle.

Marci laughed. "Luckily, I did."

She reached into her messenger bag and pulled out a box. It was metal with a flip lid and warm to the touch. She opened it and pulled out a curved, folded rod. With a flick of her wrist, it snapped into a bow.

Marci then pulled out a toothpick-sized arrow and touched it lightly. It sprung into a life-sized missile with a Celestial bronze arrowhead.

Leo glanced back. "An invention of yours?"

"Of course," Marci confirmed, and notched the arrow.

Pulling the string back, she took aim at the running giant's right eye. She breathed a deep breath, let it out, and loosed the arrow. It was true to its mark, hitting the giant and dissolving it into a pile of dust.

Marci folded up the bow and returned it to its box. She slid the box back into her satchel and wrapped her left arm around Leo to hold herself on the bike. Her right arm went diagonally across him, her palm resting on the left side of his chest. She pressed her cheek to his back and closed her eyes, trying to breathe steadily and figure out if Leo was like her.

Leo

Leo's heart was definitely beating faster than normal. He hoped Marci couldn't feel it, considering her hand was right over his racing heart. He was also pretty sure it wasn't beating that fast because a giant had chased them. Seriously, it was a big deal for Leo, having a girl's arms wrapped around him and her cheek against his back. Gods, he hadn't even had his first kiss yet, and it was his sixteenth birthday.

Maybe she was his birthday present. He hoped so.

He decided not to say anything. He was worried it'd cause her to move her arms, and he definitely didn't want that to happen.

"Leo?" Marci's voice was close to his ear.

He swallowed hard. "Yeah?"

"Why did you call Brady your dad?"

The question was almost laughable. Leo had been so used to being around other demigods that he'd forgotten how most people didn't know a god or goddess when they saw one.

"Because he _is _my dad. Well, not Brady, 'cause Brady is just a made-up name. My dad's Hephaestus, aka Brady," Leo tells her with a weak, nervous chuckle.

"Hephaestus as in…the Greek god of fire and blacksmiths?"

"Yeah, that's him. And he told me you were the daughter of some god."

"I always knew they were real! I've seen Greek monsters and stuff, and one day I could've sworn I saw Brady's beard catch on fire. But who's my dad?" Marci whispered, her breath tickling his ear.

Leo was struck dumb. "Uh…that wasn't the reaction I was expecting, but I'll take it over denial. And I'm not sure yet."

"Well, we'll figure it out, I guess," she said, concluding the conversation.

He felt her return to her normal position, her cheek pressed between his shoulder blades, her hand still pressed over his pounding heart. A faint smile spread across his face as he drove the motorcycle past a spray-painted sign that said, _Private Property, Trespassers May Be Attacked by Rogue Inventions_.

Leo pulled up to a small, run-down log cabin. Metal was strewn everywhere. Wire was piled on the doorstep. Even from the dirt driveway, he could see the windows of the cabin were smeared with grease.

He shut the motorcycle off and flipped the kickstand down with the toe of his shoe. Marci climbed off first, walking up to the door. Leo trailed behind her, pausing every so often to inspect discarded inventions.

"C'mon, slowpoke. I wanna show you something," Marci laughed.

Leo rolled his eyes and followed her through the door of the grubby little cabin. The inside was a hundred times worse than the outside. There were tools laying on the small kitchen counter, hardware in mugs, cans of oil and grease sitting on the table, and blueprints everywhere. A pullout couch was tucked in a corner by a door that was probably a bathroom. A medium sized dresser was pushed up against the couch and a pair of high top Converse was sitting on top of it.

"Sorry it's so messy; I never really clean up," Marci explained sheepishly.

"It's fine. What did you want to show me?" Leo asked, picking up a few pieces of copper wire.

Marci grabbed something off the table and hid it behind her back. "Okay. So I'm not totally finished with it yet, but it works really well for my first try."

She pulled it from behind her back and held it out to him in the palm of her hand. It was a miniature bird, one that looked like a phoenix. Marci made a small cooing noise and the phoenix fluttered to life, taking off from her palm and flying around the room.

When it got to the center of the tiny cabin, it glowed and suddenly burst into flames.

Leo gasped. "Was that supposed to happen?"

"Yep."

The mini phoenix flew over to Leo. He stuck his hand out to let it land and Marci's eyes widened.

"Don't! You'll get—," the bird landed on his hand and he didn't even flinch. "burnt. How are you not burnt?"

Leo sighed and launched the bird back into the air. "I'm a fire user. See?"

He set his hand on fire and waved it around, then put it out.

"Oh."

"It's supposed to be bad whenever one of us fire users turn up. But anyhow. Get a bag packed. You should come with me back to the Argo II."

"The _what_?"

"My flying ship. Would you happen to have ten yards of sheet metal?"

Marci stared at him. "Uh…yeah. It's around back. I have a backpack that'll shrink it. We'll strap it onto the motorcycle."

She turned to the table and grabbed a camouflage bag off the back of a chair. After tossing it to Leo, she began packing her messenger bag full of clothes. She was done in five minutes, then they went around the back of the cabin to get the sheet metal. Leo lifted it and Marci touched it with the bag, causing it to shrink and fit perfectly into the camo canvas.

"Alright. We're ready. Let's get out of here," Marci said, looking around at her inventions sadly.

Leo put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll come back for them."

He climbed on the motorcycle and Marci followed suit, putting her arms around him the same way she did before.

Then Leo revved the bike and they sped away down the dirt drive.


End file.
